Emma Roberts Has Had it With Social-Media Bullying

In her interview for the Allure January cover story, Emma Roberts made it clear that her watchword is protection—and not just self-protection. The actress seems to go out of her way to defy the stereotype of the beautiful girl as mean girl, to champion the defenseless, to be, in other words, the polar opposite of the deliciously bitchy characters she's played on Scream Queens and American Horror Story. Most heartfelt of all, she says, is her protectiveness of her 14-year-old sister, Grace, who has never sought the public eye but has been scrutinized nonetheless. "I love her more than anything or anyone in the world," says the actress. She explains how she was posting a batch of photos of the two of them celebrating during last year's holiday season, when Grace stopped her cold. "She came up to me and said, 'Please don't post that; people are calling me ugly on your Instagram.'"

Roberts grows solemn thinking. "I've met some of the most beautiful people in the world, who have been some of the most awful people," she says. A pause. "I'm getting choked up talking about it.... I thought, Here's my little sister, and people are calling her ugly...."

It was this realization, the idea that a young girl she loved was being judged on her looks, that contributed to the actress's decision to appear in an ad campaign for Aerie. Specifically, she posed for unretouched photographs wearing T-shirts, panties, and bras. "You can put yourself out there and not Photoshop yourself or Facetune yourself," she says. It's just fine "to say, 'Oh, I looked bad in that picture, but that was such a fun day.'"

Equally to the point, "I also wanted to show people: Yes, there is an Emma Roberts, but there is also Emma!" Meaning, "Not red carpet. My hair down. Basically no makeup." Her breasts in the Aerie lingerie shots are exactly the size nature made them. "I'm a small-B boob," as she puts it. "I can't even fit into Victoria's Secret bras—they're all too big!" A roguish grin: "So I'm standing up for the small-busted girls."

Her desire to occasionally let her less glamorous side out seems to also influence the star's future plans. "I think as I get older, there might come a time when I don't want to be in front of the camera anymore and want to be more behind the scenes: I would love to produce and maybe write," she says. Creativity and behind-the-scenes power are worthy goals for anyone, particularly young women in Hollywood. Still, there's a bit of poignancy in Roberts's reasoning. "I thought of it a lot during Scream Queens when every morning there's full hair and makeup and heels and minidresses," she says. "And I thought, You know, I kind of want to show up to work one day and not care what I look like. It would be nice to just slip away for a little bit."